Physical Oceanographer

Dr Will Hobbs

Dr Hobbs’ main research interest is in understanding the physics behind observed changes in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic climate system, and whether they can be explained by natural processes or are due to human influence. Additionally, he works on problems related to the global energy balance.

He gained a PhD in 2009 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied the role of the atmosphere in driving large-scale variability of Southern Ocean sea ice. Following his PhD, Dr Hobbs was a post-doctoral researcher in the Ocean Circulation group at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His work at JPL involved combing satellite data with Argo float data to estimate the strength and heat transport of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). This ground-breaking time series is regularly updated and is widely used in the AMOC community.

He came to Hobart in 2012 to take up a position in Ocean Detection and Attribution with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).

social & academic profiles

Current Research

Dr Hobbs has been with the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre since March 2015, continuing his work on Ocean Detection and Attribution with a focus on the Southern Ocean.

He is particularly interested in observed trends in Southern Ocean sea ice cover, and improving climate model estimates of the high latitude Southern Hemisphere circulation.